As the number of U.S. troops arriving in Haiti was quickly mounting during the early days of the humanitarian relief effort, there were scattered wails that the U.S. was invading and trying to occupy that country.
Those who had such worries may want to read recent reports where some officials with extensive experience in humanitarian relief and peacekeeping now express concern that “the troops, ships and helicopters will leave too soon, before security is reestablished.”
The Miami Herald points to the fact that with ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, “the Obama administration has little appetite for an extended military mission in the Caribbean.”
According to Andrew Natsios, who led the U.S. AID from 2001 to 2005, ”The risk is the opposite: that they will leave too quickly, and we will have chaos…They’ve got their hands full in Iraq, Afghanistan-Pakistan. The U.S. military does not want to do this, in terms of anything beyond the humanitarian response.”
As the number of U.S. military on land and offshore approach 18,000, plans are already being formulated for their gradual departure and for turning over the task of recovery and rebuilding to United Nations agencies and other organizations and private groups.
Surprisingly, there are still some doubters and naysayers.
For example, according to the Miami Herald, Elizabeth Harris, an expert on humanitarian issues at the Brookings Institution, says that the U.S. military role in Haiti is “still not clear” to her and asks whether there are plans for the U.S. military to “exit in a reasonable period of time,” once international and nongovernment agencies stand up their operations.
Perhaps the words of a senior State Department official quoted by the Herald might provide a clue. The official said that the chances of Somalia-like “mission creep,” with U.S. forces staying in Haiti as political arbiters, “are zero. . . . What’s the strategic rationale?”
In the meantime, the U.S. military continue to do their job rebuilding roads and water and electrical systems—rebuilding Haiti’s badly damaged infrastructure. Back home, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll released yesterday, “more than six out of 10 Americans believe U.S. troops and relief workers should remain in Haiti until life is more or less back to normal.”
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.